Friday, 18 September 2015

The European
Commission's State of the (European) Union web page in English
contains a link to a publication described as the ”complete
picture”, with a page element hinting at future translations of
this extended version of the 9 September 2015 address to the European
Parliament.

The full picture booklet (64 pages in all; 9MB) offers president Jean-Claude Junckers'
written (authorised) #SOTEU speech text, the Commission's letter of
intent to the European Parliament and the Council of the EU, the
progress report on the Commission's ten priorities and a transcript
of the speech delivered, plus closing remarks (at the end of the
plenary debate).

Our general
interest

According to Article
17(1) TEU the Commission shall promote the general interest of the
Union and take appropriate initiatives to that end.

As I see it, the
general interest of the EU is the (enlightened) interest of the
citizens of the European Union. In practice, the strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats facing the EU are translated
into the political vision and will of the European Commission,
leading to legislative proposals and other initiatives.

In the State of the
Union publication we are offered a view of how president Juncker and
his Commission - #teamJunckerEU - intend to promote our interests in
2016.